The saddening part of Wacken is, of course, the return. But, you would wanna go back home after the over-humanly effort you have spent for four days. It was cloudy on the day of return. Those packing their tents in slow motion due to exhaustion, the ones trying to sober up and early morning drinkers were all parts of this gloomy picture. This is probably the quietest moment of Wacken.

It is advisable to start packing early on the day of return. To give you a hint, I started packing at 07:00 for my flight from Hamburg Airport at 15:00 and I made it just on time. Showers and toilets were not so crowded. The busiest spot I saw was the cafe which was lined up for by people who wanted to have breakfast.

There are tracks at the exit point of of the W:O:A camp area, next to the main gate, where buses depart for a number of European cities (see the photo below). Shuttle buses to Itzehoe also depart at this spot. If you want to go to Itzehoe, you can take a bus without any reservation after waiting in the queue for about 15-20 minutes. If you want to go to other cities, though, you need to make your reservation on the first day of the festival at the kiosk next to the main entrance.

Despite the bitterness of the return, I had a very cool final. I saw David Ellefson at Istanbul Atatürk Airport and realized that I had flown the whole way in the same plane with Megadeth, which was quite shocking. I asked for an autograph and a photo and he kindly accepted. I also saw Chris Broderick while waiting for my luggage and got another photo with him. I could not see Dave Mustaine although all Megadeth crew was there and I learned that he exited the airport (probably through fast-track) as soon as the plane landed. It was weird for him to flee while all the others were waiting.